Book club provides discussion

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The discussion was heated, though friendly, between two factions who have debated the question for years: “What are Fanny Price’s merits in Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’?”
Women around Hillsdale, many of them Hillsdale College professors’ or staff members’ wives, agree to read certain books, from “East of Eden” to “The Hunger Games.” In addition to fruitful discussion, they enjoy each the friendship.
The women draw on their academic backgrounds, with varying areas of study, to add something unique to the discussion.
“We fall very easily back into this role of analysis and penetrating discussion,” Amy said.
The book clubs are not only about books, but also friendship. Jaminda Springer, married to Art Instructor Bryan Springer, organizes one of the clubs. She said that, often, halfway through a meeting someone asks, “Shouldn’t we talk about the book?”
“Although we do touch on really important points and ask hard questions, and we are all educated and well­read, we don’t let that get in the way of laughing and having a great time together during the discussion,” she said.
Kelly Cole, who attends the club Amy organizes, expressed similar sentiments, saying those in her club often joke about how long it takes to get around to discussing the book.
The clubs provide good motivation to keep reading amidst the day­to­day routine, Jaminda said. Kelly Cole, who is married to Instructor of Philosophy Lee Cole, said that without the club, she’d probably read very little fiction. The club keeps her reading literature and enhances that reading, because she gets to hear her fellows’ insights, she says.
The clubs also serve to welcome newcomers to Hillsdale.
“We all know how isolating it can be moving to a new town and how difficult it can be to make new friends, to begin to feel that you belong,” Jaminda said. The book clubs ease that process by providing a regular time to meet.
“I think that the Hillsdale argument is that the art of reading itself makes us more authentically human and community makes us more authentically human,” Maier said. “To pair those pursuits is of great service in helping us to live our vocations, as humans, wives, and mothers.”